Moonlit Olive Grove Poem by Jewell Miller

Faintly heard mutterings,
Dimly seen flutterings,
Crouching forms ... tangled hair,
Withered limbs ... visage bare.
Groping foot ... earth-bound root
Seek motion: Slowly shoot ...
Break from the soil away,
Find freedom none may stay,
See,- they close in on me
With ghostly symmetry,
Cloistered nun ... withered hag
Lift heavy limbs that sag.
One tree pursuant stands ...
Gnarled root-feet, twig-bent hands;
Something black whirling by ...
Something rent gives a cry!
What was it fell to earth,
Mocked by unholy mirth?
Great bat - or songful bird
Met here a death unheard.
Moonlight peers through the trees ...
Finds some upon their knees,
Muttering elegies
For midnight cruelties.